


The Sun Sets on Another Day

by astral_plant



Series: Grit in the Oyster, Pearl in the Shell [1]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Friendship, Future-fic, Humor, Post-Canon, Slow Burn, Unresolved Romantic Tension, character-study, friends to lovers (eventually), just a bunch of headcanons, prequel to a sequel, segues into a fluffy fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 14:41:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19793026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astral_plant/pseuds/astral_plant
Summary: Claudia had expected some snark, not the ginger sort of grin Rayla flashes as she draws near, nor the tentative, almost shy way she tucks wispy strands of hair behind a pointed ear. It’s new ground, what’s formed between them: an odd sort of camaraderie born from the ashes of conflict and distrust.Claudia and Rayla share a loaded moment and learn things as they do, with hearts on their sleeves.





	The Sun Sets on Another Day

They say their goodbyes wreathed in the gold of a setting sun.

There'll be time yet for ceremony and celebration. It’s enough now that they bring home a treaty more precious than even the heart of a titan. It’s in their young king’s hands now. Claudia smiles, proud at the sight of him laughing as he talks animatedly with Zym. Even Bait, grouch that he is, seems content padding about by Ez's feet.

Though it's quite possibly the most adorable thing Claudia has ever seen, she edges a little away, just far enough to not overhear the chatter. And maybe she wasn't paying enough attention to her surroundings, cause she winds up bumping into Soren. He steadies her by briefly grabbing her shoulders, then points a thumb at a fruit-laden tree up ahead. Claudia nods in understanding. Maybe he just wants some time to himself to think. Now that she thinks about it, he could just be hungry from all the walking they’d done.

The trail through the mountain pass had been long and treacherous, after all.

Though with Rayla as their guide, safety wasn’t a huge issue. They catch each other’s eye now as Rayla’s putting Callum into a headlock, and they share a smile before Rayla starts walking over. She’d gone down the line and now at last, it's Claudia’s turn.

Claudia had expected some snark, not the ginger sort of grin Rayla flashes as she draws near, nor the tentative, almost shy way she tucks wispy strands of ashen hair behind a pointed ear. It’s new ground, what’s formed between them: an odd sort of camaraderie born from the ashes of conflict and distrust.

A part of Claudia wishes it didn’t take them so long to reach this point. Another part of her wouldn’t have it any other way. Getting here sure wasn't an easy feat. And well, in a way, it’s all the more precious, that the grit in the oyster has turned to a pearl in the shell.

When Rayla extends a hand, Claudia goes in for a hug instead.

The words that come next? They feel like the most natural thing in the world.

“I’ll miss you,” Claudia says, and that’s the truth of it.

Claudia says it out loud because words are like magic. String the right ones in the right order and there’s power in speaking them to life. She says it out loud because she isn’t sure when’s the next chance she’ll get, and she can’t help how her voice trembles by the last syllable.

In her arms, Claudia feels Rayla’s every reaction ripple like a stone skipping across a lake. She feels it in how Rayla tenses before slowly easing up, her hands coming to curl tentatively around the curve of Claudia's waist and the small of her back. She feels it in the lilting, breathy chuckle Rayla lets out as she relaxes into the hold and laughs into Claudia’s hair.

There’s a thrumming beneath Claudia’s skin where they touch, an infectious, gregarious sort of energy that washes over like summer rain. It’s a warm sensation that feels at once both familiar and new, Claudia thinks as she’s drawn into the swell. And before she knows it, she’s laughing herself to tears.

 _Maybe that's a kinda magic too,_ Claudia thinks as she wipes the tears away with the back of her hand.

They pull apart. And in that fluid motion, that impossible space where one moment stretches into infinity, green eyes meet violet and it’s almost like Rayla knows how it feels...

It passes in a blink.

Like a shooting star winking out in the night sky, they come back to themselves, find their feet planted back on solid ground.  
  
“Don’t go sappy on me now,” Rayla says, her features pulling into a playful smirk. Claudia sucks in a breath at the sight. And before Claudia knows it, Rayla’s already walking away.

They’d been through so much together out on the open road. They'd faced the thrill of adventure and a world of untold possibilities, and now... And now, their journey was coming to an end. Claudia understands the rationale of it. It was, after all, the natural order of things.

 _Still_ … Claudia thinks of her parents; all the times she’s had to say goodbye, and it hurts. It always does, when life narrows down to impossible choices she doesn't want to make at all. Her father's legacy looms like the great shadow of death... a beast of its own skin she'd never felt ready to face down on her own... What if she strays, too and makes the same mistakes one day?

Claudia draws a steadying breath. It wouldn't be the same, Claudia tells herself. She's lived enough and learned enough to stand her ground and make her own choices. And she wasn't alone this time. She wouldn't be alone ever again.

Impossible _is_ another kind of possible. Or... well, it has the potential to be, at least! You just need to be daring enough to try.

So of course Claudia reaches out.

She’s running more on instinct than rational thought, though. No creative solutions lurk up her sleeve this time, just a poorly thought out plan, a yearning fluttering in her chest propelling her body into motion. It honestly feels pretty weird, like she's swallowed a moon moth, and right now, it's beating its wings furiously trying to find a way out.

Maybe it’s retribution; some kind of karmic comeuppance for all the times she used to take them apart, back when she was younger. She hadn't done it cruelly of course, but… well, she had done it all the same. _Can’t make an omelette without cracking a few eggs, y’know?_ They had needed reagents for their stores and magic needed to come from _somewhere_.

* * *

Rayla lets out a questioning hum as she turns back around. She glances down at the hand wrapped around her wrist, then traces the path up to Claudia’s face. She looks into Claudia’s eyes, one part curious, two parts expectant. More importantly, Rayla doesn’t pull away.

“You need to say it back,” Claudia says, a beat after she’s let go of Rayla’s wrist. Her tone’s a little more serious than what she had been trying for. Though admittedly, was it even possible to miss her mark when she hadn't actually set a target?

Rayla shoots her an incredulous look.

“No, I don’t.”

“Yeah, you do. That’s the… that’s the rules...” Claudia draws it out, stalling for time, fumbling with what to say next. “Ezran’s declared a royal edict!”

Rayla crosses her arms before she raises an eyebrow. She looks neither convinced, nor surprised.

“Uh huh. And what’s next on the royal agenda, a jelly tart tax?” Rayla quips.

“Y'know… that might actually be a thing, depending on the treasury. We do need funds to rebuild.”

Rayla answers with a roll of her eyes. She bites her lip and Claudia tries not to stare too much. “We’re not in Katolis yet. You know that, right? Even if we were, Ezran isn't even my King.”

"Fair enough. But have you considered this-" Claudia says and points to the expectant look on her face with her index fingers.

“Wha-? What does that even mean?!" Rayla says in exasperation.

"C'mon, Rayla..."

Rayla's eyes narrow into slits. Claudia ups the ante by tacking on a pout, too. And... okay, maybe she's been hanging out too long with Bait. It’s a dangerous game they’re playing. A dangerous, dangerous game of… chicken. 

"Ugh! Fine. You're impossible. D'you know that, you huge sap? I’ll miss you too!” Rayla half grumbles, half shouts as she throws her hands up in the air. Thereafter, she scoffs and rubs her nose with her hand. “Y’know it’s not the end of the world, right? I can always come visit.”

Claudia lets out a little victory whoop before she double takes, suddenly overcome with incredulous relief. “Wait. What! Really?”

“Yeah. Not like the guards can stop me.” Rayla clucks her tongue before she teases. “What’s the matter? Need me to pinky swear, too?”

The gibe slides off Claudia like water off a duck. Instead of being riled up at all, she makes a considering sound in her throat. “Know that? That’s a great idea!” The hands Claudia had clasped behind her back are in front of her now. She sticks out her pinky finger as she waggles her eyebrows expectantly at Rayla.

“I wasn’t being serious…“ Rayla huffs, though in the end, she does accede to their little treaty of their own. ”Okay. Fine. Done. Still can’t believe you’re older than me.”

“Age is just a number in the mind, Rayla,” Claudia says with a wink and a cheery smile.

Rayla groans. “Uh huh. Guess you’re living proof of that, eh? Doubt I’d be rid of you that easily anyway, even if I don’t visit,” Rayla says, smile sly as she leans her back against a rocky wall.

Claudia follows suit with a throaty laugh.

Rayla’s embarrassed. Claudia can tell from the way her shoulders slouch, can barely make out the blush dusting her face and creeping up to her pointed ears. There’s no bite to Rayla’s grousing, though. There hardly ever is. For all her sharp edges, she really is quite soft at heart. It’s a warm thought that nests in her chest. Claudia can’t help beaming because of it.

“About time someone noticed!” Claudia says as she nudges Rayla with her elbow. “I _am_ a pretty good trekker if I do say so myself.” Claudia makes a grand show of polishing her lapel with her fingers.

“Ugh. Don’t make it weird,” Rayla grumbles as she swats at Claudia’s shoulder in turn. “I’ve had enough dark magic for one lifetime…”

Claudia giggles. “You know who you’re talking to, right?”

“I know, I know…” Rayla says, her voice soft and mediative as she extends a hand. The tips of her fingers gently ghost across the ends of Claudia’s hair, against that telltale streak of white. “Can you blame me for trying?”

Claudia’s eyes widen in surprise at the unexpected action. She thinks she has Rayla figured out to a T, and then she pulls stuff like this out of the blue and totally throws her for a loop.

“Nope,” Claudia says after she’s swallowed the heart in her throat. _Never_ , she thinks.

A thunderous, bellowing cry echoes in the sky moments after that, and it’s so powerful, Claudia swears she can feel the ground tremor in its wake.

“I think that’s the signal for us to head back,” Rayla says as she pushes herself away from the wall. She looks apologetic, which is quite a feat, considering Claudia herself is honestly feeling a little terrified. “Zym’s mom is still a little antsy about his safety.”

“Oh. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense,” Claudia says, a little antsy herself now, though she finds that easier to mask than her disappointment. She trails along for a step or two before she remembers this is where they part. Her footsteps stop. The crunch of gravel underfoot feels heavy as a gavel. 

Rayla glances behind and spots the downcast expression on Claudia’s face. She rolls her eyes, and combs back her windswept locks before she settles on a decision. And this time, it’s Rayla pulling her in for a hug. This time, it’s Claudia who’s caught off guard.

It doesn’t last nearly long enough. That’s Claudia’s only complaint.

“Take care of yourself, Claudia," Rayla says when she pulls back. “And take care of Callum and Ezran, too. I don't have enough fingers to count the number of times you all almost got yourselves killed.”

She can count the number of times Rayla’s said her actual name on one hand. And it’s always in times of import, when she's trying to drive some point home, or call Claudia out. Claudia... should probably say something meaningful right about now, but she can't find the words. She licks her lips, and even her tongue feels dry. 

In the end, all she can manage is a non-committal reply.

“And for what it’s worth, I really will miss you,” Rayla says, and smiles. An earnest smile. An open one with her guard down, and heart bared. Her violet eyes glint ever so in the fading amber light.

It’s very fetching, and more than a little maddening. Fondness blooms in Claudia’s chest like a wound. She draws a quick breath at the sight, sharp as a dagger, shallow as a haphazard grave. It’s a moment, frozen in time. It’s a scene that Claudia etches into memory and will turn over in her head, again and again, like the way one revisits a favorite passage of a favorite book, each new reading shining new light on the words.

And then, that’s it. Rayla turns away, her head of silver hair looking like spun gold in the setting sun; the lithe arch of her shoulders proud as ever with every step forward she takes.

Zym follows Rayla like a puppy before he gets the bright idea to be carried. He gets his way after a few yelps and head-butts. Thereafter, he scurries to perch at the top of her head, his tail wagging as it prods Rayla's hood.

Claudia’s too far away to make out Rayla’s words and can only see their half-shadowed outline. Still, she watches them until they are out of sight. They don’t turn around. They don’t wave goodbye. _Maybe it’s better that way,_ Claudia tells herself. 

She hears the crunch of gravel next to her, but it’s only when she feels the hand on her shoulder that she turns away.

“You alright?” Soren asks, words muffled by the apple core in his mouth, his tattered red cloak turned makeshift apple basket in his other hand.

It’s such a ridiculous sight. She can’t help the coarse spasm of laughter bubbling up through the tears.

“Yeah,” Claudia says after she’s calmed down some. “I will be, in a bit.”

Soren blows a raspberry and winds up spewing a few chunks. He tosses a fruit her way before walking towards their bags with his bountiful harvest. Claudia manages to catch the apple after a few fumbles. Cardio will never be her forte, but she’s had some practice along the way. She's learnt a lot along the way. Stuff besides the fact that wild berries taste pretty great.

She can’t really make out what Soren's saying, though. Probably something about a sun-baked brain.

The sky is a palette of colours now, indigo and inky blue drowning out the blood-orange yolk of a setting sun.

“Mind if we stay for awhile?” Claudia says, apple in hand as she turns to the rest of the boys. She tosses the fruit to Bait, who deftly snatches it from out of the air with its tongue.

“Eh, not at all,” Callum says with a sniffle and smile. He stretches his arms before reaching for his pack. "Rest sounds great right about now! We've got a long way back.”

“Come on, Bait. Let's help get a fire started,” Ezran pipes up with an understanding smile.

Claudia smiles gratefully at them.

* * *

That night, they sleep under a bed of stars.

Claudia volunteers to take first watch because she's too restless to sleep this early anyway. She can hear Soren and Bait already snoring away as she cosies up by the fire with a brewing pot of apple cider. 

She's never been a fan of camping, but it has its charms. Maybe it's because they're close to Xadia and still pretty high up, but the star-speckled sky has never looked so beautiful. If she reaches out, it's almost like she can pluck the crescent moon.

 _That won't do,_ Claudia thinks, stifling a yawn. The world needs it far more than her pocket, even if it'd make the greatest night light ever.

She doesn't think her yawn is loud enough to wake Ez, but maybe he hadn't been sleeping at all, because all too fast, he's draping a blanket over her shoulders and nudging her off to her bedroll despite her protests. He declares bedtime a royal edict, and it's sure hard to argue against your liege when he puts it that way.

The campfire crackles and pops, its embers climbing, higher and higher into the night sky. On her back, staring up at the waxing crescent moon, Claudia thinks about Rayla and the moth’s back in her chest, beating its wings furiously against the cage of her ribs. 

She knows the anatomy of the Archangel Lunaris by heart. It just makes it all the more maddening, because more than anything, Claudia wants to pin that feeling down with words. She imagines excising the moth from out her chest and laying it flat on a wooden slab with her instruments at the ready. She imagines the delicate veins of its wings, thin as a page, translucent as sugar glass…

Claudia shuts her eyes and can picture the sun setting against Rayla’s back. It had almost hurt then to look at her, but Claudia couldn’t bear the thought of looking away. Even now, the words are right on the tip of her tongue, humming like energy under her skin.

They're right _there_...! So close, just within her reach, just beyond her grasp...

Claudia lets out a long, guttural yawn, then curls a little more into her bedroll. So she can’t breathe life into that feeling just yet... Maybe that’s alright, for now at least. Maybe the moth is still just a chrysalis. All it has ever known was eating leaves and wriggling, and the mess of a thing, sleeping restlessly now in its cocoon, was already dreaming of the moon.

Life is made of cycles like that, isn't it? It feels like only just yesterday they were setting off on a journey. Well, one journey's ended, and another one's already begun. They're going back to Katolis in the morning. They're going _home_. 

Claudia imagines what homecoming will be like for Rayla: a grand celebration in her and Zym's honor and a feast fit for a king. She imagines Rayla at the center of attention, with garlands of Xadian flowers upon her fidgeting head of silver hair, a mountain of gifts laid out by her feet and admirers lining up to do her praise.

She can't help but sleepily chuckle at the thought. How long will it take, Claudia thinks, before Rayla slinks away from the pomp of festivities?

She imagines Rayla sneaking into the castle in the dead of night wearing that sly, confident grin on her face. Claudia imagines her silver hair windswept from scaling the ramparts, her violet eyes twinkling with mischief and adventure. She'd extend a hand and Claudia would go in for a hug. _Of course, of course..._ Claudia thinks with a smile as she closes her eyes.

That seems more like a thing Rayla would enjoy.

They'd meet again.

Of course they would.

This isn’t the end, not just yet.

**Author's Note:**

> Every time I visit this, it spirals out of control and gets bigger. Gah! Feel free to share your thoughts! Will edit when I've some free time. Cheers!


End file.
